Five people were arrested over the past week across Italy, while three were detained in Germany, two in the Netherlands, and one in Austria, said police in the northeastern Italian city of Trento. Police were still seeking 12 other alleged members of the group, which included Albanians, Serbs, Bosnians, Croatians and Italians.

The group had bases in Balkan countries and sold Venezuelan and Colombian cocaine brought in through Spain and the Netherlands as well as heroin smuggled in from Turkey, police said.

During a two-year investigation by police forces across Europe, 10 additional people were arrested on suspicion of international drug trafficking and authorities seized luxury cars, jewelry, a yacht and more than €8 million (US$11.5 million) in cash and bank accounts.

Raids also yielded 76 kilograms (167 pounds) of cocaine and 26 kilograms (57 pounds) of heroin that would have sold for about €15 million (US$22 million), the statement said.

More than 5.8 million people voted for Nicholas Maduro at the presidential election in Venezuela. This is more than a quarter of registered voters. Why did those people vote for the man, who, as Western media write, took Venezuela to the brink of collapse?